Knitting machine



35 s. A.IWELCH El m. ,002,070

KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 12, 1931 FIG-1- T 3 252? 1a 12 3 31 I I i: 1314 n"! 29 0.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE KNITTING MACHINE Sidney Arthur Welch; Albert Fairholme Guyler,

William Henry Ashby, Spondon, near Boaler, and

John Thomas Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application December 12, 1931, Serial No. 580,596

In Great Britain 5 Claims.

This invention relates to knitting machines, and particularly to flat knitting machines, in which a weft thread is fed successively t0 the needles by a guide which travels alternately in opposite directions along the knitting course.

In machines of this kind, for example, flat fashioned stocking machines, whether of the reciprocating needle type or of straight bar type, feeding of the thread to the needle is closely followed by further operations of knitting, for example, the sinking of loops of thread round the needles and (in the case of sliding needle machines) the operation of the needles themselves under the influence the thread into loops.

of the knitting cams to knit For this purpose it is necessary that the yarn guide in its traverse along the knitting course should proceed in advance of the means for effecting the knitting traverse, i. e. the needle cams and/ or sinker cams (hereinafter referred to as knitting cams), which operate to knit the yarn thus fed. It is an object of this invention to provide means for effecting the motion of the yarn guide in correct relationship to the knitting cams in whichever direction the yarn guide ing.

According to the and knitting cams are movpresent invention, the yarn guide of a knitting machine is driven in the same direction as the knitting cams through the medium of means which lead the yarn guide in advance of the knitting cams in either direction of their movement. The means provided at each end of the knitting traverse may be such as to bring the yarn guide gradually to rest while the knitting cams pass it, the yarn guide thus being ready 'to move in advance of the knitting cams when they commence their motion in the reverse direction.

The yarn guide is preferably driven by the means for traversing the knitting cams in such a manner that the yarn guide is positively driven along the knitting traverse, and

the reversal of lead occurring at the end of each traverse is positively accomplished.

A suitable method of connecting the yarn guide to the knitting cams comprises the use of a pair of links pivoted to the yarn guide traverse means and adapted to be engaged in turn at their ends by a pair of abutments in connection with the means for effecting stops may the knitting traverse. Thus,

be provided at each end of the knitting traverse to disengage the link from the one abutment, and then to allow the other link to engage reverse ramps, out of en'sa with the other abutment when the lead is d. The abutments may be in the form of gement with which theends January 26, 1931 of the links ride on coming against the stops at either end'of the traverse. Means may be provided if desired in connection with such links and their attachment with the yarn guide traversing mechanism whereby the amount of lead of the 5 yarn guide over the knitting cams may be adjust-ed. This may be done by adjusting either the pivot points of the links, or the positions of the abutments engaging the ends of the links. It

is generally convenient that the lead of the yarn o guide should be the same in both directions of travel.

Where stops are employed at the ends of the knitting traverse, as described above, the position of the stops at each end of the knitting 15 traverse will be determined by the width of the fabric to be produced. In fully fashioned machines adapted to knit fabrics or articles of varying widths the reversing stops may be automatically adjusted during knitting to correspond 2 with the variation in width of the fabric, as described in U. S. Patent No. 1,902,151. For this purpose the fashioning means already in use to effect narrowing of the fabric may be adapted to operate also the reversing stops, or alternatively, 25 separate mechanism may be used preferably controlled by the same pattern wheel or chain as the ordinary fashioning means. As also described in U. S. Patent No. 1,902,151, the traversing speed may be kept substantially constant gq and the frequency with which courses are knittedjj" made substantially inversely proportional to the lengths of the courses, in order to give the ma- 1 chine a high output.

The lead changing means according to the in- 35 vention may be adopted for use upon a great variety of weft knitting machines. For example, the device may be applied to amachine of the sliding needle type having bearded needles, wherein after yarn has been fed to the needles 40 sinkers pass successively through the spaces between the needles to sink loops of thread round the needles after which the needles are drawn down and raised up by the needle operating cams to knit and clear the loops. Or again if sliding 45 latch needles are used, the yarn is fed to the needles in advance of the knitting cams, which then operate directly upon the needles to draw loops of thread, generally without the use of sinkers. Further, the device is applicable to ma- 50 chines of the straight bar type, wherein yarn is fed successively to the needles, and loops of yarn are subsequently sunk round the needles by means of sinkers, knitting occurring on all the needles at once when the sinking of loops along 55 the whole length of the machine has been completed. Since it is necessary that the yarn should be fed to the needles in advance of all other operations, it will readily be understood that the yarn guide should be positioned with .a definite lead over the cams operating upon the thread (sinker cams) or upon the needles (knitting cams). The device according to the present invention is adopted to control the movement of the yarn guide, and positively to reverse the lead at each end of the knitting traverse.

While the invention is described with reference to the. direct operation of the yarn guide, it will be understood that it may be applied to any mechanism which itself actuates one or more yarn I guides in conjunction with-selective mechanism for feeding different yarns to the needles as desired.

The invention willnow be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates the invention in connection with a knitting machine of the kind described in U. S. Patent No. 1,902,151, and in connection with the sinker cam driving mechanism described in U. S. Application S. No. 580,597 filed Dec. 12, 1931. It is to be understood however that this description is given by wayof example only, and is in no respect limitative.

Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the mechanism according to the invention as applied to a knitting machine of the kind described in U. S. Patent No.

' horizontal bar I5. The cam box I4 is driven by means of a mechanism comprising a cam box carriage II which is provided with a disc I8, of which a segment I9 is cut away (at the top of the disc as shown), the disc l8 being mounted upon a horizontal bar 20. The. carriage II also carries four pulleys 2| mounted upon shafts 22 symmetrically disposed around the disc I 8. The belt 23 runs freely between the pulleys 2| and the cut away portion I! of the disc l8, but'on the other side of the disc (asillustrated the lower side), the belt 23 is nipped between the disc I8 and pulleys 2|. The belt 23 runs round a pair of pulleys 24, of which one is shown to the right of Figures 1 and 2, and is driven by mechanism (not shown) lying to the left of these figures. The disc I8 is prevented from rotating. by means of a crank 25 rigidly fixed to it, whose free end bears upon two horizontal bars 26,- 21 adjustably mounted upon a bar 2|. For this reason, the motion of the belt 23 drives the carriage l1 and the disc IS, the cam box ll being driven from the disc l8 by means of a pin 29 fixed into a block 30 situated in a slot 3| in the rear face of the cam box. When the cam box reaches the end of its traverse, the crank member 25 slips over the end of the bars 25 and 2'! allowing the disc I! to retate for halra revolution which brings the cut away portion I! of the disc I! opposite the other run of the belt 23, and the block 30 and pin 21 to the other end of the slot 3|. In this manner, the carriage I1 is clamped to the other run of the belt and is driven in the opposite direction, the process being repeated in reverse at the other end of the traverse. The sinkers 34 mounted in a bed 33 are operated by means of cams 35, 36 which proceed in lead of the knitting cams l3. The lead of the sinker cams is reversed at the end of the knitting traverse in the manner described in U. S. Application S. No. 580,597, Filed December 12, This specification describes in detail the mechanism shown generally in the drawing, by means of which the cams 35 and 36 move slightly in the direction of knitting relatively to the knitting cams and, at the same time, exchange functions, so that the effective lead is considerable. Means are also described for changing the lead of the presser cams. Two such cams, 55 and 56, are provided, one of which operates on the beards of the needles ll, while the other swings back to an inoperative position, the position being reversed when the direction of knitting is reversed. In co-operation with the sinker cam lead change and the presser cam lead change mechanism referred to above, means are provided according to the invention for reversing the lead of the yarn guide.

Yarn is supplied from yarn guides 60 sliding upon bars GI, and operated by fingers 82 sliding upon bars 63. While in this description the members 60, 62 are described as sliding to and fro on the bars GI, 63, an arrangement convenient for a single machine producing one article at a time, these members may be rigidly fixed to the bars, which are then caused to slide bodily in their hearings on the end frames 66 of the machine. This arrangement is convenient where a series of machines producing a number of articles simultaneously are driven from common driving means, the bars 6|, 53 extending past all the machines, and carrying a set of guides 50 and fingers 62 for each of such machines. Similar considerations apply to the bar IS on which the knitting cams have been described as sliding.

The fingers 62 are mounted by a yarn guide carriage 64 mounted upon a bar 65 and pushed from end to end of the machine in lead of the knitting cam, so that y is fed to the needles before the knitting cams operate upon, them. For this purpose two cams 61, 68 are carried by an enlargement 69 of the upper shafts 22 on the knitting cam carriage II. The cams 51, 68 are respectively engaged by two levers 10, ,II pivoted to the yarn guide carriage 64 and each cam is provided with a V shaped notch 12, II which are en'- gaged by bowls 75, I6 at the lower ends of the levers 10, ll. When the knitting cams are moving to the right, as shown, the bowl 15-on the right hand lever 10 is engaged in the notch 12 of its own cam 61 while the bowl 18 on the other lever H rides upon the horizontal upper surface of its cam 58. At the end of the traverse, the bowl I5 attached to the lower end of the lever I engages with a stop I! carried by the horizontal bar 21, and is thereby prevented from moving further to the right. The bowl I is therefore compelled to ride up the V shaped notch to the top of the cam 61, while the cams 61, 68 move on beneath it with the knitting cams l3, until the bowl on the other lever ll drops into the notch 12 o! the-other cam 68. The knitting cams l3 now come to rest at the end of the traverse and move in the reverse direction, that is to the left, the bowl 16 of the lever ll being in engagement in the notch 13 of the cam it ready to drive the yarn guides to the left in lead of the knitting cams ll as desired. At the other end of the knitting traverse the operation is reversed, the stop ll engaging with the bowl I! 'andeausing it to become disengaged from the notch 13 so that the bowl 15 can engage again with the notch 12.

In order to adjust the amount of lead imparted to the yarn guide the earns '61, 68 are slidably adjustableon their supports 69, in order that the respective positions of the two notches I2, 13 may be adjusted. Slots 19 are provided in the cams to allow of their adjustment. Alternatively however, adjustment may be made by moving the pivot points 80, 8! of' the two levers 10, II, and means for this purpose are illustrated in Figure 4, wherein slots 82, 83 are provided in which the pivot points 80, 8! may be adjusted. In this case, since adjustment of the cams is. unnecessary the two cams can be made in one piece as illustrated at 85 in Figure 4. In this figure, instead of providing V notches in the cams, ramps 86, 81 are provided for the bowls I5, 18 to ride up at the ends of thetraverse,

In each of the cases'shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the levers 10, l I when in engagement with the notches 12, 13 or the ramps 86, 8'! lie substantially at right angles to the working surfaces of such notches or ramps. This is the optimum angle, since the drive of the yarn guide is thereby made positive, there being no tendency for the bowls 15, 16 to run up the slopes until they are engaged by the stops 11, 18 while at the same time, when such engagement does occurthere is no acceleration of the yarn guide due to the rising of the bowls 15, 18, but a gradual deceleration, a desirable feature, especially in machines working at high speed.

As described in U. S. Patent No. 1,902,151, the position of the ends of the bars 26 and 21 is automatically adjustable for the production of fashioned articles. Since the stops ll, 18 are mounted with the bars 26, 21, these stops are alsoadjusted simultaneously with the bars 26, 21, and the number of needles to wh ch yarn is fed is adjusted. A further feature in common use in knitting machines of this type, is a selective mechanism for determining what kind of yarn shall be fed to the needles. Such a mechanism may be employed in association with the fingers 62, to bring selected finger into engagement with the corresponding yarn guides 60. Only two of such guides 60 are shown, but more may be employed, mounted on further bars GI in the position indicated in Figure 3. Two or more selected yarns may be fed to the needles simultaneously by means of the selecting mechanism referred to above.

' What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Flat knitting machine comprising sliding means for effecting a knitting traverse, sliding means for carrying a yarn guide, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said yarn guide carrying means, .said links being adapted to swing in a plane parallel to the direction of traversing, a pair of ramps on said traversing means adapted to engage in turn with the ends of said links to traverse the yarn guide in lead of the knitting traverse, and a stop at each end of the knitting traverse adapted to engage the end of the driving link to prevent further traversing motion thereof and to cause the link to swing so that the said end rides up the ramp and becomes disengaged therefrom, whereby the other link may engage with the other ramp after the yarn guide has been at rest long enough to reverse its lead over the knitting traverse preparatory to traversing in the opposite direction.

2. Flat knitting machine comprising sliding means for effecting a knitting traverse, sliding means for carrying a yarn guide, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said yarn guide carrying means, said links being adapted to swing in a plane parallel to the direction of traversing, a pair of ramps on said traversing means adapted to engage in turn with the ends of said links to traverse the yarn guide in lead of the knitting traverse, and a stop at .each end'of the knitting traverse adapted to engage with the end of the driving link and prevent further traversing motion thereof, whereby the said end is caused to ride up the ramp, the pivoting motion of the link thereby engendered continuing to move the yarn guide at a diminishing rate until it comes to rest so that the other link may engage with the other ramp after the yarn guide has been at rest long enough to reverse its lead over the knitting traverse preparatory to traversing in the opposite direction.

; 3. Flat knitting machine comprising sliding means for effecting a knitting traverse, sliding means for carrying a yarn guide, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said yarn guide carrying means, said links being adapted to swing in a plane parallel tothe direction of traversing, a pair of ramps on said traversing means adapted to engage in turn with the ends of said links to traverse the yarn guide in lead of the knitting traverse, a stop at each end of the knitting traverse adapted to engage the end of the driving link to prevent further traversing motion thereof and to cause the link to swing so that the said end rides up the ramp and becomes disengaged therefrom, whereby the other link may engage with the other ramp after the yarn guide has been at rest long enough to reverse its lead over the knitting traverse preparatory to traversing in the opposite direction, and means for adjusting the amount of lead of the yarn guide over the knitting traverse.

4. Flat knitting machine comprising sliding means for effecting a knitting traverse, sliding means for carrying a yarn guide, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said yarn guide carrying means, said links being adapted to swing in a plane parallel to the direction of traversing, a pair of ramps on said traversing means adapted to engage in turn with the ends of said links to traverse the yarn guide in lead of the knitting traverse, a stop at each end of the knitting traverse adapted to engage the end of the driving link to prevent further traversing motion thereof and to cause the link to swing so that the said end rides up the ramp and becomes disengaged therefrom, whereby the other link may engage with the other ramp after the yarn guide has been at rest long enough to reverse its lead over the knitting traverse preparatory to traversing in the opposite direction, and means for adjusting the distance between said ramps so as to adjust the amount of lead of the yarn guide over the knitting traverse.

5. Flat knitting machine comprising sliding means for effecting a knitting traverse, sliding means for carrying a yarn guide, a pair of links pivotally mounted on said yarn guide carrying means, said links being adapted to swing in a plane parallel to the direction of traversing, a

pair of ramps on said traversing means adapted to end rides up the ramp and becomes disengaged distance between said stops so as to adjust the therefrom, whereby the other link may engage length of the knitting traverse.

with the other ramp alter the yarn guide has been at rest long enough to reverse its lead over the 5 knitting traverse preparatory to traversing in the opposite direction, and means for adjusting the SIDNEY ARTHUR WELCH. ALBERT FAIRHOLME GUYLER. WILLIAM HENRY BOALER. JOHN THOMAS ASHBY. 

